


road trip

by fourhorsemen



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 5x10 Abandon All Hope, Alternate Universe - No one dies, Canon Divergence, Cute Dean, Epic Bromance, On the Run, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-05
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2018-02-19 22:59:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2406017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourhorsemen/pseuds/fourhorsemen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Tell me again why Jo isn’t sittin’ in your lap Cas?” </p><p>The one where Jo and Ellen never die because I love them too much and in 5x10 they do end up ganking the devil. </p><p>Or the one where no one gets any thanks for saving the world because people are dumb.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. what you get for saving the world

**Author's Note:**

> So I guess this is the innocent lovechild of that other Dean-sits-in-Castiel's-lap fic. Yeah, this is crack - hope you enjoy.

“Tell me again why we’re all squashed in this crap car?” Dean asked.

“I believe it is because we had to flee the premises due to unprecedented events and this was the only car available at short notice,” Castiel replied succinctly.

“You couldn't have picked a better car Ellen? Seriously?” he said incredulously.

“What d’ya expect me to do with hellhounds on my ass? Find you a monster truck?” Ellen bitched.

“Woulda been nice,” Dean grumbled.

There was a moment of silence wherein Dean shifted a few more times and then:

“How long is this road trip gonna be?” he asked.

“Long,” Sam snapped.

“And why can’t we stop at the nearest motel, hotwire another car, split up and get the hell outta dodge?” Dean demanded.

“Because the townspeople came outta their trance, saw 3 guys and 2 gals with guns, one dead husk of a man the devil wore to prom, freaked the fuck out and now there's an APB out on all of us cuz they think we do satanic rituals involving town massacres,” Jo said snarkily.

“Ain't that fuckin’ ironic,” Bobby muttered and grumbled something that sounded like “and that’s what we get for savin’ the damn world…”

“Tell me again why _Jo_ isn't sittin’ in your lap Cas?” Dean snapped and Ellen gave him a warning glare. Jo rolled her eyes and smirked at Dean through the rearview mirror. Sam didn't even bother dignifying that with a response – focused as he was on driving. Bobby grunted something about Dean being a whiny princess and Castiel cleared his throat awkwardly before offering:

“Jo is a respectable young woman who will not tolerate being placed in a man’s lap solely because she is a woman,” he said succinctly.

“Tell me again why _you_ can’t sit in _my_ lap?” he bitched. Sam sighed explosively and gave Dean a bitchface through the rearview mirror. It was even more bitchy looking reflected off a mirror, which Dean didn't think was possible.  He glanced at Castiel through the corner of his eye and Castiel too looked fairly unimpressed.

“Angels don’t feel pain Dean. I can take your weight,” he muttered and proceeded to look aimlessly out the window. Dean groused and fidgeted again, trying to sit his butt somewhere that  _wasn't_ close to Castiel’s crotch. Ellen rolled her eyes and Jo sniggered. Dean kicked the back of her chair and got a stink eye from the little blond spitfire.

“I fucking hate you all,” he groaned and rested his head against the back of Jo’s seat in defeat.

 _No one_ dignified that with a response. 

\---

“So let me get this straight. Sam can’t sit in the back because he’s a Sasquatch whose legs can’t fold up like normal people legs,” Dean started, ticking points off his fingers. Everyone but Castiel, who was a stoic son of a bitch, groaned unanimously. 

“Jo is a bitch – oh don’t you gimme that look, I’m his brother and that gives me full right to ride shotgun,” he spat when Jo started to protest, “Bobby and Ellen have nowhere else to sit” he said cautiously, “and Cas doesn't care either way,” he concluded.  There was another moment of silence (which they all knew was going to be broken all too soon) and then:

“Wait, _Cas_ you can fucking _fly_ what the hell are you doing in this car?!” Dean exclaimed and turned around sharply to face Cas. He hit his head against the roof the car and cursed, Castiel steadied him with his hands on Dean’s hips and gave him a blank look when Dean scowled at him indignantly.

“My powers are depleted as I have been disconnected from Heaven for nearly a month now,” he said. Dean frowned.

“But you still don't feel pain,” he deadpanned.

“I still don’t feel pain,” Castiel confirmed.

\---

“Cas, is that your goddamn angel blade poking me in the ass?” Dean finally snapped after having to deal with it practically gouging a hole through his thigh for the past two hours.

Sam choked on his own spit and Jo spat her drive-through slushy all over the dashboard.

“What?!” Dean yelled while Jo gasped for breath and Sam had a coughing fit that nearly made him crash the damn car. Sam quickly pulled over before they got hit by an oncoming truck or something.

“Dean-  I – seriously?” Sam panted and looked at him in bewilderment. Jo finally caught her breath but then took one look at Dean’s totally confused face and burst into laughter. Ellen tsk-ed and leaned over to slap Jo on the shoulder in admonishment and Bobby was probably pretending he didn't know anyone in the car. Dean still didn't get what the hell all that was about.

“ _What_? What the heck are you laughin’ at?” he asked and glared at Sam. Sam’s lips twitched uncontrollably but he finally got a hold of himself and turned to restart the car.

“You’re really _that_ clueless,” he heard Sam mumble to himself. Jo was still laughing her ass off. In all the ruckus Castiel hadn't even managed to open his mouth.

“I apologize Dean, I will take it out of my pocket,” he said contritely and Jo – who’d finally calmed down a little and started wiping down the dashboard with her sleeve – choked.

“You better,” Dean grumbled and didn't even bother trying to ask Jo why that made her giggle. Ellen looked like she wasn’t sure whether she should scowl at Jo or grin because it’d been a long time since Jo laughed that hard. Bobby still didn't know any of them. Castiel finally managed to shuffle around and get his angel blade out of his pocket. He slipped it up his sleeve from under his wrist and it basically ceased to exist.

“How do you even do that…” Dean muttered.  

\---

It had been around six hours when Sam finally got sick of driving. Dean had always been the better driver, after all.

“That’s it, man! Dean you take the wheel, I’ll ride shotgun and Jo can sit in the back now,” Sam said and turned to look at his brother.

His brother… Who was slumped against a stiff-looking Castiel, sleeping soundly and drooling all over the angel’s coat. Only thing missing from the picture was loud snores (thank God Dean _didn’t_ snore). 

“Seriously?” Sam whispered and Jo turned to look behind her in curiosity. She gaped.

“What can I say, guess the angel’s a good pillow,” Ellen muttered and smirked a tad.

Bobby took one look at Dean and mumbled something fond about how he fell asleep in under a minute back when he was a kid. Ellen chuckled fondly. Castiel offered no reaction other than awkwardly looking down his nose at where Dean’s head was nestled under his chin. Jo smirked and shared a mischievous look with Sam. Quietly, very quietly, Sam took out his phone and hastily snapped a picture of his brother clutching Cas like the angel was his own personal teddy bear.

This was gonna be blackmail material for _ages_.

 


	2. safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You don’t needa watch over me Cas, we ganked Lucifer. We’re safe now,” Dean says happily and Castiel is silent for a long time, so long that Dean almost thinks – impossibly – that the angel fell asleep. 
> 
> “I will always watch over you, Dean,” Castiel replies gruffly and Dean feels something loosen in his chest.

Dean wakes up to Ellen shoving him in the shoulder and telling him to hustle out of the car already and take mercy on poor Castiel. He blinks in confusion, lifts his head and Castiel makes an ‘oof’ sound when Dean’s head smacks him under the chin.

“Ow,” says Castiel in his usual monotone but Dean’s a bit too sleepy to laugh at how ridiculous he sounds.

“Thought angels didn’t feel pain,” he mumbles and yawns. He shifts forwards on Castiel’s lap and stretches a bit – as much as he can in this stupid car anyway and that’s when he realizes.

“Wait – did I fall asleep on you?” he blurts embarrassedly and looks at Castiel guiltily.

“I believe so,” he replies, unfazed. Dean scratches the back of his neck bashfully.

“Um- sorry ‘bout that…” he stutters quietly and clambers off Castiel’s lap because Jo’s tapping insistently on the window and waggling her eyebrows obnoxiously.  

“It’s fine, you needed rest and it was no discomfort,” Castiel replies sincerely and Dean gives him a weird look as he clambers out the car because someone head butting you in the chin was pretty damn uncomfortable. Angels were weird, or maybe it’s just Cas. _Weird little nerdy angel_ , Dean thinks fondly.

They both get out of the car and walk up ahead to where there’s a small, dilapidated log cabin. It’s pretty big, but it doesn't look like anyone’s been in it for years. Probably ‘cause it’s in the middle of fuckin’ nowhere. Dean doesn’t even know what _route_ they’re on ‘cause he fell asleep… On Cas. Yeah that’s something he wants to forget as soon as possible.

The door’s open and Dean can hear Jo and Sam chattering about something inside while Bobby bitches about something or the other. He walks in and totally understands why Bobby’s bitching about it because the cabin is even worse on the inside than on the outside.

There’s mildew on the bare, dirty walls and what once was probably a bear rug on the floor resembles a mass of tangled fur with disgusting looking stains on it. There’s an old wooden table and an old-fashioned stove in the far left, a mottled old sofa towards the right where there is the oldest TV set Dean has ever set eyes on – _is that a radio?_ – and there’s a small hallway that probably leads into two or three rooms – bedrooms and a toilet. Dean doesn’t really expect any beds or mattresses in those bedrooms and he _really_ doesn't want to see what the toilet looks like in this place.

All in all, it sucks.

“Dean, finally got your ass out of the car, huh boy?” Ellen says and goes back to where she’s wiping off the table in the kitchen with a rag.

“And off of Castiel’s lap,” Jo teases and Dean glares at her. Speaking of Castiel, the guy is just looking around silently – Dean doesn’t think he cares about how crap it looks, it’s not like he sleeps or shits or eats. It’s Dean, Sam, Bobby and Ellen who are actually gonna have to live in this shithole. Dean ignores Jo and turns to address Sam:

“Where the hell are we Sam?” he asks incredulously ‘cause he has seen a lot of crap cabins and this is probably the worst looking one out of all of them.

“Bumfuck, Colorado – I literally just saw it on the side of the road and thought ‘hey a cabin, let’s stop here,” Sam replies.

“And you didn’t turn back when you saw the state of the cabin?” Dean says drily. Sam looks at him indignantly.

“Dude, _thanks to you_ I’ve been driving like 10 hours non-stop from Carthage to Colorado, _maybe_ if you didn’t fall asleep on Cas we could have found a better place,” Sam hisses.

“Oh! You little bitch – let’s get back in the car now, I’ll drive however many hours it takes to find a decent cabin to squat in,” Dean snaps. Sam huffs and crosses his arms.

“No,” he says stubbornly.

“What?” Dean yells and gives Sam a look. Sam sighs and brushes a hand through his hair in frustration.

“We don’t have enough gas, alright. There’s not enough to go cruising around the countryside trying to find another cabin,” Sam elaborates.

“Fine,” Dean says petulantly. For a couple minutes they both just stand there glaring at each other.

“Well?” Ellen snaps. She glares at them, Dean and Sam both turn to look at her in bewilderment – how had they managed to piss _her_ off?

“Get to it!” she says in annoyance and gestures widely at the room. Dean winces. There was a whole lot of cleaning to do before anyone settled down for the night in this rat-infested, mildewing log cabin. Sam and Dean both instantly set to taking that disgusting bear rug off the floor and possibly burning it out back. Jo rolls her eyes and goes to help clean out the kitchen and see if anyone left any canned soup lying around in a cupboard or two.  

“You _too_ , Bobby,” Ellen says. Bobby grumbles something about ‘bossy, demanding women’ and receded into the hallway leading into the other rooms. Castiel stands in the doorway awkwardly, until Dean chuckles and tells him to go help Bobby. God knows, there could be a dozen rats in there and who better to get rid of them than a smitey angel of the lord?

 

\---

 

“So,” Sam says when they were both finally lying on a bunch of blankets put together to make a pallet ‘cause Dean was right – no mattresses. Except for one that looked like it had blood splattered all over it that they burned out back with that hideous bear rug. This place gives Dean the creeps.

“What?” Dean grumbles. There was no way he was falling asleep today when he’d already slept in the car ride here, might as well let Sammy pester him about something or the other.

“We saved the world,” he murmurs wonderingly and Dean sobers.

“Yeah. Yeah we did,” Dean replies and saying that suddenly drives it home. He feels a wash of breathtaking relief and he laughs happily. Man, it was finally fuckin’ over.

“Wow,” Sam whispers and god, did Dean agree with that sentiment.

“Me, you, Bobby, Ellen, Jo and Cas. The Dream Team,” Dean jokes.

“Oh yeah, speaking of Cas…” Sam says cheekily.

“Shut up,” Dean groans and punches Sam fondly in the shoulder. Sam shoves him and laughs quietly. He yawns – loudly – and shuffles onto his side.

“Go to sleep, Sasquatch” Dean says and Sam grumbles about overbearing brothers before falling silent and closing his eyes. Dean turns to look at him affectionately. The Devil’s dead, Sam’s alive, they’re _all_ alive and…

Cas is staring at him again. Dean sighs.

“Cas, what have I told you about the staring thing,” he says quietly – so he doesn’t wake Sam – to Castiel , who is sitting in a chair they found in a small store-room where Ellen and Jo are sleeping. Bobby claimed the couch, lucky bastard.    

“I apologize, but I do not need to sleep. I’ll watch over you,” he says solemnly. Dean looks in his direction and sees those unnaturally bright blue eyes tracking his every move – like there was still danger lurking about. He smiles slightly.

“You don’t needa watch over me Cas, we ganked Lucifer. We’re safe now,” Dean says happily and Castiel is silent for a long time, so long that Dean almost thinks – impossibly – that the angel fell asleep.

“I will always watch over you, Dean,” Castiel replies gruffly and Dean feels something loosen in his chest. He realizes that until now, he didn’t really feel safe but now he does. There’s an angel watching over him. Dean closes his eyes and smiles.

That’s what Mary used to say.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had time today so I ended up continuing this. Last chapter of two-part fic.


End file.
